Autumn Fall

Preparation

The evening went by quickly, with the Agents passed out from alcohol intoxication. Everyone but Leah was fast asleep in the living room. She looked closely at the mantle of the induction stove before turning it off. The smell of alcohol and cigarette smoke filled the air. Leah looked at Arthur and took the burning cigarette out of his mouth.
"Sorry..." was heard faintly from Arthur's mouth before he fell unconscious again.

Leah extinguished the cigarette and lied down on the bed next to Max. Her thoughts spun around in her head, her consciousness slowly drifting past the walls of the room and into the void. Leah fell asleep, but not soundly in the slightest.

Beams of sunlight shimmered through the veil of the curtains. Not a single one of the other Agents had yet to wake up. It was a Sunday, you'd normally sleep in a while before eating breakfast. Only Leah was left, still and awake on her part of the couch. She could barely sleep during the long night. She limped off the couch and directly into the kitchen to make a cup of coffee.

Her shuffling and bumping into things started to wake up the other Agents. Both Max and Arthur woke up tired from last night.
"You guys want coffees too?"
"Mhm."
It was only the quiet Carmen who remained asleep.

"Did you sleep... at all?" Max asked.
"Yeah, but barely any. I couldn't clear my mind to rest."

Arthur walked behind Leah, who was brewing coffee. He pat her on the shoulder and said, "That was some great soup. Thanks." The comment felt oddly sincere coming from him, but it was probably from the sleep inertia.
"Here's your coffee. Drink well."

Arthur grabs three cups of coffee and brings them to the coffee table in the middle. One next to Max and another next to Carmen's head. Carmen was still asleep on the table, kneeling next to it. Arthur blows the top of his cup and takes a small sip from the piping hot beverage.
"Leah are you sure you're okay? I mea-"
Leah starts chugging the entire mug of scalding coffee without a flinch.

"...what."
"Oh, I was a bit impatient. I forgot that you people usually wait for your drinks to cool down."

The ECHO wristwatch on Leah's arm started to glow and turn on.
"KINDLE, THIS IS YOUR ECHO IF I RECALL?", the glowing yellow wristwatch asked.
"Yeah, I was drinking coffee."
"PERFECT, INFORM YOUR TEAM THAT YOU WILL BE LEAVING IN A WEEK. START TO MAKE YOUR FINAL PREPARATIONS."
The yellow screen turned off. Max and Arthur overheard the conversation with the Agency.

"One week? That isn't a lot of time." Max commented across the room.
The watch screen turned back on.
"ALSO MEET AT THE AGENCY TO TEST YOUR EQUIPMENT. WE'LL BE EXPECTING YOU."
"We'll we should get going. They're expecting us, aren't they?" Leah asked the group.
"Sure, let's go." Max responds.

Arthur looks over at Carmen to see if she's awake yet. She hasn't moved an inch since she was last seen, but the cup of coffee resting beside her is almost empty.
"You're awake, aren't you Carmen?"
She smiles and nods lightly.
"Eat first, then go." She says lightly.
"Also, Max, Leah, sorry for sleeping over today. I hope we didn't trouble you."

"It was no problem Arthur, thanks for coming over." Max responds.
He gets up from the couch and goes into the bathroom.
"Get ready, we'll take turns in the bathroom. You okay with going third?"
"Sure. You okay with last, Carmen?"
Carmen raises her arm up slightly and gives a thumbs up to the group.

A little while later, they head to the local café for some breakfast. The sun shines through the slightly cloudy sky as it illuminates the tops of the shaded tables. The four Agents sit down in chairs around a table and wait for their turn. One of the waiters comes up to the group and asks for their order.

"Good morning, I'm Stephen, may I take your order?" He asks politely while glancing at the peculiar yellow watches on the group's arms.
"Those watches look quite nice, but they don't seem to tell the time. What are they for?" Stephen continues.
"Oh, it's for work." Arthur responds.

"I'll have a tuna sandwich I guess, do you want a want a Cuban sandwich, Max?"
"Sure."
"Alright, and I'll have a classic American Breakfast, and what about you, Carmen?"
Carmen points towards the pancakes in the breakfast section.

"Alright, so your order is a tuna sandwich, a Cuban sandwich, a Classic American Breakfast, and breakfast pancakes?" Stephen confirms.
"Yeah, that's all. Thanks." Arthur responds.
Stephen quickly jots something down on his clipboard and leaves to the inside of the restaurant. The crew sits and waits for a few minutes while the food is being prepared. All of them sit normally, except for Carmen, who is leaning forward and has her arms outstretched on the table similar to a child.

The food was served a few minutes later, once again by Stephen. He sets down the plates of food in a professional manner onto the table. Carmen gets up and starts to eat her pancakes quickly.
"Thanks for the food again, Stephen." Max says.
"It was no problem. We hope to see you again soon." Stephen responds, before returning to receive the order of another guest.

All the Agents finish their breakfast and pay for the food. Arthur leaves a note and a twenty dollar tip. "He seemed like a nice guy." Arthur commented before leaving. The group continued their walk to the Agency building.

The crew arrives at the Agency base. It only took a single glance of the woman at the front desk to see their ECHO devices.
"Agents are here." She spoke into her headset.

The elevator going down into the training grounds played a calm jazz theme. The yellow glow on the watches grew brighter.
"AGENTS, YOU ARE AT THE BASE, CORRECT?" The voice asked through the microphone.
"Hey, doesn't that voice sound a little familiar now?" Max whispered to Leah.
"Probably nothing." Leah responds.

The Quartermaster was greeted the group when the elevator doors opened.
"Good morning, team."
"Wait, are you going to be teaching us, Quartermaster?" Max asked politely.
"Pffft, in your dreams. Your mentor for the week is coming down the next elevator cycle. Wait for them right here."
The Quartermaster then walked away from the group to continue her tasks.

"I wonder who our mentor's gonna be." Arthur tells the team.
The elevator reached the bottom floor, and the doors slowly open.
"Hey guys. Thanks for the tip."